


the light played over the water, too afraid to reach out

by mistykasumi (oultrepreu)



Category: Naruto
Genre: 100-1000 Words, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-06
Updated: 2004-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-03 12:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oultrepreu/pseuds/mistykasumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"If Neji closes his eyes, he can pretend that Naruto is his and everything will be okay."</p>
            </blockquote>





	the light played over the water, too afraid to reach out

**Author's Note:**

> First Naruto fic ever. Please don't hate me if I kill the characters. For [](http://ceresi.livejournal.com/profile)[**ceresi**](http://ceresi.livejournal.com/)'s birthday. I hope this isn't too incoherent and bad and etc. Set after the Chuunin Exam and before the five-man mission.

Neji doesn't know what to believe anymore. He can no longer believe in fate, not after the Chuunin Exam, but neither can he believe that fate can be changed, either, because of the cursed seal on his forehead. As long as he has that (and he'll have it all his life), Neji can't change his ultimate fate.

Neji wants to believe Naruto desperately. He wants to think that he can choose his own destiny, wants to believe that because Naruto can, he can, but Neji is a Hyuuga branch family member, and Naruto is not. Naruto is a demon boy with a path that screams of overthrowing fate, and Neji is just a cursed boy with a path that's been set for him at birth.

Naruto shines brightly, like the sun, with his stubbornness and drive and determination and strong will, and Neji still remembers what Naruto said before that last explosion during the Third Exam. _"After I become Hokage, I'll change Hyuuga for you."_ Neji wants to believe, tries to believe, almost believes, but he can never fully believe because he doesn't know what to believe in the first place.

Neji thinks that if he sees Naruto, something fundamental about him will change, something that has made Neji Neji all of his life. Only Naruto can do this to Neji because only Naruto has ever made Neji unsure, made Neji doubt and question everything he's thought to be true ever since he can remember, and Neji is glad that it's Naruto because Naruto is so bright, warm, inviting. If Neji closes his eyes, he can pretend that Naruto is his and everything will be okay.

But Neji doesn't know what to believe anymore, and even though he wants to believe Naruto, Neji is too afraid to believe. Neji wants to see Naruto, but he is glad he doesn't.


End file.
